Kidney research to benefit from State funding

A WA Health study that will potentially benefit thousands of Western Australian patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) is one of seven research projects that will benefit from $70,000 of State Government research infrastructure funding.

Announcing the 2014 round of New Independent Researcher Infrastructure Support (NIRIS) awards, Health Minister Kim Hames said the study by Royal Perth Hospital clinician
Dr Kwok Ming Ho had the potential to not only change clinical practice in the management of AKI patients but also to save lives.

AKI is a serious medical condition that is about 10 times more common than end-stage kidney disease and which affects about 4,000 West Australians every year.

“AKI patients are given diuretics to prevent fluid from building up in the body, but for about 30 to 40 per cent of these patients the drug most commonly prescribed to prevent fluid build-up does not work,” Dr Hames said.

“Using high doses of diuretic to try to delay the initiation of acute dialysis may put these patients at risk of serious harm.

“Dr Ho’s research will examine why a diuretic used to increase urinary output in patients with AKI is effective in some patients but not others, and will potentially give clinicians the tools to identify these patients early and employ alternative means of managing their fluid levels.”

The NIRIS scheme provides awards of $10,000 to new independent Western Australian medical and health researchers to help meet research infrastructure costs. Dr Ho will use his NIRIS award to help pay for computers and computer software.